This book has been on my to-read list for…well since the book came out. Somehow I never made time for it, until it showed up as a choice on the reading list for my Youth Literature class. Now, it was homework… the best kind of homework ever! I am loving this class which forces me to make time to read some awesome books!
My 11-year-old students said the movie was really, really creepy. I guess I’ll have to watch the movie and see for myself–probably when my son is not home. He is only 7 and would be terrified.
The book begins with an awkward boy, Jacob, who doesn’t really have any friends. (The best kind of beginning.) He has a symbiotic relationship with a boy who protects him from bullies in return for help with passing his classes. Jacob’s grandfather, Abe, tells him fantastical tales from his own childhood in an orphanage, about a girl who can fly, a boy with bees in his belly, an invisible boy, and more. Jacob believes him until he gets older and realizes they must be just stories.
Then Jacob’s grandfather is killed horribly by what appears to be a pack of dogs. Abe whispers some kind of riddle in Jacob’s ear as he dies. Solving the mystery of his words sends Jacob to the island where Abe grew up. While on the island, Jacob learns the dangerous truth about his grandfather and even some about himself and gets him embroiled in more danger than he could have imagined.
I am almost done reading it and I love it!
Quill and Books 
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